America Enters the War in 1917

By Sara Nazarian

When war broke out in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson insisted that the United States stay out of the war. He believed that all diplomatic avenues had not been utilized to end the war. The United States maintained that it was neutral, favoring neither side.

By 1915, both sides needed supplies. Great Britain and its allies and Germany and its allies attacked trade their enemy’s trade from the sea; this affected neutral shipping. The British created a naval blockade in the North Sea, while the Germans launched surprise attacks on merchant ships using their U-boats⎯submarines. While both actions violated American neutrality, Wilson favored Britain over Germany in his treatment of this issue. Wilson condoned the blockade, while opposing U-boat attacks. Germany retaliated by creating a U-boat blockade around Britain. This angered Wilson, who claimed that American ships had a right to trade with Great Britain. This double standard only worsened American-German relations and brought these nations closer to war.

During the same year, Germany fired on multiple ships carrying American civilians. In May 1915, German U-boats fired on the ship Lusitania, killing 128 Americans.¹ Two more ships, the Arabic and the Sussex, followed the Lusitania to a watery grave. Wilson was enraged and threatened US entrance into the war if the Germans did not yield. Germany called off all attacks on merchant ships and tensions eased. The United States continued to supply the allies, and loaned them money to buy US goods including ammunition. Germany did not receive the same treatment.

In early 1917, the Germans declared unrestricted submarine warfare: American ships were once again targeted by U-boats. Germany knew the United States would join the allies but military officials believed that they could starve Great Britain and force them to drop out of the war before the US could send enough troops to make a difference. The final straw came from what is known today as the “Zimmerman Telegram.” German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann sent a telegram to the Mexican government asking them to continue their aggressions on the Southern border. He promised Mexico that they would receive a part of the US when the Germans won the war. As a result of this offer, Congress declared war on Germany in April 1917; the United States officially entered the war alongside Great Britain, France, Belgium, Italy, and Russia.

Wilson’s plan from the start was to send troops overseas. He wanted America to play an active role in the war effort. Wilson’s lofty speeches inspired many American to go to war, but the United States Army only numbered about 120,000 in the Regulars Army and 180,000 in the National Guard. Wilson needed to muster an army large enough make an impact on the war in which European armies numbered in the millions. On May 17, 1917, Congress passed the Selective Service Act. It required men between the ages of twenty-one and thirty (age forty five in 1918) to register for the draft. Later, they would expand the age limits to expand the number of men who might be selected for service. Approximately 2.8 million men were drafted between 1917-1919.²

African Americans enlisted voluntarily and were drafted. On the one hand, military service was attractive to black men; it paid substantially more than the average black male was making in 1917. On the other hand, the economy was booming because of the war and black men wanted to take advantage of this boom. Many black Americans served hoping that that this would compel white Americans to treat them as equals with all the rights inherent in American citizenship. Perhaps some believed that participation would lessen or eliminate segregation. Little did they know that racism and segregation followed them as they served in World War I.

Futher Information

Allen, Erin. “World War I: Conscription Laws.” Library of Congress. Accessed August 5, 2018, https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2016/09/world-war-i-conscription-laws/.

American Battle Monuments Commission. “Remembering World War I: Building the American Army.” Accessed August 5, 2018. https://www.abmc.gov/news-events/news/remembering-world-war-i-building-american-army#.

Keene, Jennifer D. World War I: The American Soldier Experience. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2011.

National Archives. “Records of the Selective Service System (World War I).” Accessed July 26, 2018. https://www.archives.gov/research/guide-fed-records/groups/163.html#163.4.

Setzekorn, Eric. Joining the Great War, April 1917-April 1918. Accessed August 7, 2018. https://history.army.mil/html/books/077/77-3/cmhPub_077-3.pdf.

Zieger, Robert H. America’s Great War: World War I and the American Experience. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2001

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